A Georgia State Patrol response to reports of illegal stunt driving ended with two vehicles on fire, a K9 trooper climbing through a window and a 19-year-old passenger dead.
The crash happened early Monday in DeKalb County while troopers were pursuing a white Chrysler 300 that GSP says drove over a curb trying to get away. The pickup it hit was not the Chrysler that prompted the pursuit.
According to a Georgia Department of Public Safety release, troopers had seen the GMC pickup participating in the same stunt-driving activity minutes earlier.
Anthony Angeles, 19, was riding in that pickup. He later died at a hospital. Its driver, 20-year-old Emilio DeJesus of Conyers, survived with injuries GSP described as not life-threatening.
The Other Vehicle
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Troopers had gone to the area of Kilman Drive and Bibb Boulevard after reports of multiple vehicles moving between locations and performing illegal stunts through the night. Several vehicles fled when troopers arrived.
GSP says the white Chrysler 300 mounted a curb while trying to evade them, prompting the pursuit.
As that chase was underway, a Crime Suppression Unit K9 trooper traveled through the intersection of Mountain Industrial Boulevard and Hugh Howell Road and collided with the GMC pickup. GSP says the pickup was among the vehicles troopers had observed taking part in the stunt-driving activity shortly before the crash.
Both vehicles caught fire.
Out The Window
The trooper and K9 escaped the patrol vehicle through a window. GSP says the trooper then immediately went to help the people inside the burning pickup.
Angeles was taken to a hospital and later died. DeJesus was also hospitalized.
FOX 5 Atlanta reported that the wreck shut down the intersection for several hours while crews worked the scene.
The trooper involved in the collision has been placed on administrative leave under agency policy while the crash is reviewed.
Two Reviews
GSP’s Specialized Collision Reconstruction Team is examining the crash and the circumstances leading up to it. The agency’s Office of Professional Standards is conducting a separate administrative review of the response, including the actions of the troopers involved and whether applicable policies and procedures were followed.
GSP said it will release additional information as those investigations establish more facts.